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    Arrowhead kids create bonds, leave anxiety

    Arrowhead kids create bonds, leave anxiety

    Photo By Sgt. Austan Owen | The organizer for Camp Arrowhead, Norma Melo, sets fire to all the bad thoughts that...... read more read more

    JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES

    11.07.2012

    Story by Sgt. Austan Owen 

    5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

    Sgt. Austan R. Owen, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

    JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- “How many of you wanted to come today?” asked the organizer for the camp. About 30 percent of the children raised their hands. “How many of you are glad you came?” she asked next. A resounding majority lifted their hands, as smiles crossed their faces and it was evident they had fun.

    Military family life consultants, family readiness group members and volunteers held Camp Arrowhead a resiliency camp for the children of soldiers assigned to 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division’s, at Lewis North Chapel on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Nov. 3.

    The idea behind the camp came along when FRG leaders realized that Soldiers go through a barrage of reintegration programs before they come home from a deployment. Spouses of the Soldiers more recently have been offered programs that explain what a Soldier may go through during redeployment and have been given information on additional resources that might help. The leaders asked themselves, “What about the kids?”

    With this in mind, Camp Arrowhead was born. Norma Melo, camp organizer, linked up with the embedded MFLCs at the local schools to find volunteers to help put on the camp. Children, ages 6 to17-years-old, were invited out to participate in arts and crafts, eat lunch and make bonds with other children facing similar situations. The counselors were on hand to guide discussions and help resolve anxieties that exist as children look forward to seeing their parent after such a long time apart. About 60 children showed up to take place in the day’s events.

    “Sometimes kids will listen to other people before they will listen to their mom,” said Caroline Webster, the brigade commander’s wife. “These are all licensed clinical social workers that are in the school, familiar with the kids and the struggles that they are going through.”

    “At the end of the day we wanted our kids to have the opportunity to get ready for their mom or dad to come home,” she added.

    The FRG leaders encouraged parents to participate in many ways. The unit held a similar camp last year and improved upon it this year.

    The camp benefited not only the kids but the parents as well.

    “If nothing else this is four hours off from the kids,” Webster said. “You can go shopping, you can go home and back to bed and take a break, or whatever you want.”

    The Dennis Family, as well as many others, are counting the days until they see their Soldier. Along with that reunion will come many changes, like the way the household is run and also having someone around who has been gone for so long.

    This isn’t the first time the Dennis Family has been through a deployment, however this is the first time they have participated in anything like this, said Gennie Dennis, mother of Matti and Colton Dennis

    “It’s nice to have a program that gives them a chance to express their feelings before the integration actually happens,” Gennie said.

    Colton appreciated the opportunity to attend Camp Arrowhead while he made a collage of his father and his deployment.

    “I thought that he has been through some really hard times and I did mine to help relate to what he has been through,” Colton said.

    “This was a place were we go to express our feelings on how we would react when our military member gets home,” Colton said. “It’s kind of like therapy for kids and it really helps to get motivated for when he does get home.”

    Matti’s favorite part was toward the end of day. During the camp the children were encouraged to write down on a piece of paper all the bad thoughts and feelings they might have about the past year and the upcoming reintegration period. All the papers were gathered together and set ablaze as the camp came to a conclusion allowing the bad thoughts to disappear into nothing but smoke.

    For the wrap-up to the camp all the children received certificates of appreciation from the brigade and an arrowhead water bottle. For Melo and the counselors they hope that the children take away redeployment coping mechanisms and leave behind their bad thoughts and anxieties.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.07.2012
    Date Posted: 11.07.2012 18:22
    Story ID: 97447
    Location: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US

    Web Views: 60
    Downloads: 1

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